New to posting, Not new to the site, from Pittsburgh...well anyways, HI!!!

[MrKris]

Hi, Name is Kris. I am an avid Rottweiler trainer (Schutzhound, CPI, Police work)....I've been lurking for about a year & likely know more about you guys than you know about me. So here goes;

I'm from Pittsburgh, PA...33 year old male...Welder by day, trainer (any working breed really, but the Rottys are my passion) by night.

I was introduced to Raw feed by a breeder that I'm friends with. She is known around here for breeding some of the worlds top working dogs(mostly Rottweilers). I, like many, wonder what exactly it is that she does to get so much performance from her stock. Her answer = lots of work, nutrition and luck. Now I get the 'hard work' part, the luck part, well we won't even go there. But the nutrition, I just couldn't figure it out. I just knew(thought I knew) that I was feeding the very best dog 'foods' on the market. She asks, "You actually let a money-driven corporation tell you that what you are feeding is best?!?!!?"...well actually she was not that nice about it....hahahaha ...But in all reality, if you are gullible enough to believe all the bullshit written on a bag of dog 'food' I guess you deserve what's coming....Anyways she told me she feeds unwashed green tripe to puppies and whole chicken after 6 months. I was like whoa!!!!, you actually spend all this time cooking chicken and tripe just for your dogs?!?!? She then decided she was still being too nice to me!!! hahaha Anyways, after a few long, uncomfortable and obviously judgmental stares she looks at me and asks, "COOKED!?!? Seriously?!?!"...you get the point. So I decided to do some research and my searches continually brought me to this site.

So here I am, about a year or so into feeding my stock chicken...now my dogs are the 'Talk of the Town' per-say...Hell ya!!!

My dogs have better prey-drive, stronger bite while working, more inclined to work as they actually like their rewards now, much smaller healthier stool, cleaner teeth, stronger skeleton and joints(actually working w/ a 10 year old Shepherd w/ severe hip dysplasia that now runs circle around me!!!).

Best of all, my dogs are SMARTER than ever...seriously!!! It sounds nuts, but I've been around these animals for over a decade and I've never seen such a difference in intelligence buy simply changing one thing in their lives= RAW. Some of my research hints that maybe this increase in intelligence could be attributed to the increase of the proper fatty-amino acids that RAW delivers, or it can be simply the fact that they feel better now, giving them more motivation to learn. Not sure, but I promise you that the difference is very easily observed.

I figured it was about time to show my face and give thanks to the people who helped me so immensely...So THANK YOU ALL!!!!

I owe a great deal to this site and now that I actually have a little hands-on experience w/ all this I feel it is my place to offer any help I can, in any way possible.

Kris

PS - Will be uploading pics as soon as I can of myself & my dogs(and cats, also feed RAW now) - Thanks for taking time to read my intro

[snoops]

Welcome - that's really interesting about the dogs being smarter/more interested in learning. I bet it is the same as it works with us. I tried feeding my dog raw and she LOVED it. I just got lazy but think occasionally that I should get at it again. This information might be the push I need.

[Traceyraw]

Thank You for the info I haven't thought about feeding my animal raw yet. Im glad your having a great experience. It is so nice to hear.

[qwerty988]

Welcome -- I'm in Pittsburgh now, too!